Music Lesson: Ariana Grande's "Into You" Lick

So, our second lick today from Ariana Grande is from "Into You." I love this lick here; it's just a classic, glamorous diva type lick.

The Challenge of Ascending Licks

Now, the thing that makes this a little bit more difficult is that it's ascending. You'll always find that ascending licks are just a bit tougher than descending.

That said, don't let it put you off!

• Remember: If you don't work on it, it won't get better.
• So, do try ascending and descending licks and runs.

Introduction to the Lick

All right, let me show you this lick to begin with.

• It's an ascending lick, and we're starting on E.
• Let me show you how it goes:

1, 2, 3, 4.

So we're going right up to a top F#.

If you need to mark it through, you can start in head voice, taking it really easily with a lighter tone. Then you can build up to a bit of belting if you want to give that a go.

First Phrase

Here's our first phrase:

"Whoa."

Do you want to try it with me?

"And whoa."

Good! Now we have another busy phrase after that:

"Whoa."

Try that together.

This is a bit to practice a few times before you move on.

• Let's try it together: "And whoa."
• One more time, making sure that your mouth stays open.
• Everything nice and loose.

Try it again.

Great! Sounds good.

Next Section

Now, the next section, even though it goes quite high, is actually a little bit less busy than the first half.

• You're going from semiquavers to quavers.

Here we go. Let's try it together:

1, 2, 3, 4. "Whoa."

Keep it nice and easy, nice and light. No time for belting yet; we're learning!

1, 2, 3, 4. "Whoa."

Do you want to give it a go? Elisha, sing along with me.

Here we go. 2, 3, 4.

That's it! Taking your time really makes a difference; don't rush through anything too quickly.

Identifying the Challenge

So, what do you think is the hardest part of this lick?

Student: It's the changeover where it breaks in my voice.

That's a good observation!

• One thing I'd say is to start the whole thing quieter.
• Don't have a big heavy chest voice at the bottom; it's going to make that distinction between the two a little bit harder.

Practicing with Ease

Start quieter and just a little lighter. Let's try it nice and quiet like that.

This means you're in a place where you're not anxious about the bridge, so we can start to bring some technique in later.

• But at least your fluency isn't affected.

Let's try it again:

2, 3, 4. "That's it, that's it."

And even while we're quiet, let's get a little faster:

1, 2, 3, 4. "Whoa."

Again: "Whoa." Great!

Final Practice

Now, let's try this a little faster:

1, 2, 3, 4. "Whoa."

Try that with me.

2, 3, and 4.

Remember that second drill? That bit trips me up too, so just watch out for that section there.

1, 2, 3, 4. "So." "Whoa."

Try that:

"Yeah. Whoa."

Up, down, up!

Try that again:

"Whoa." That's the one.

Yeah, try again:

"Whoa." Great!

Now, let's try the whole thing:

One, two. Slowly and enjoy every note. Absolutely!

And while you're at a quiet place in your voice or in kind of an easy mark-through mode:

• Make sure everything feels good.
• Watch your face, your jaw, and your posture as well.

Staying nicely aligned helps create a good foundation when you want to apply a little bit more pressure.

Wrapping Up

So let's try it:

One, two. Nice and aligned. Three and four.

That's it!

• Letting those little mistakes happen can help reduce anxiety instead of trying to dodge them.
• Three and four. That's it, that's it!

The more repetition you have, the better you're teaching your voice the pathway of those particular notes, making it easier.

Final Exercise

Let's do one more to finish off our lesson today.

• Set up your body well.
• Keep your mouth open, and keep your movement in all of your upper body because that's going to really help you succeed with this lick.

You know this. You practiced it. Let's do it!

1, 2, 3, 4.

How did you go? Is it good?

I think you can do it!

• Break it down section by section.
• You've got this.

So there's our last Ariana Grande lick for today. Hope you enjoyed that!